Part 12 (1/2)

'But when Yama left the clearing with the soul of her one true love, Savitri boldly followed.'

One of the Phractons began to lift up above the square, moving into a decidedly threatening position. Its motor unit whined, sending dust whirling up from within the abandoned fountain.

Bernice, dazed for a moment, scooped up her hologram by s.n.a.t.c.hing at the Doctor's foot. It compacted. He had been standing there watching interest-edly, she noted.

She ducked down beside the skimmer, next to the one-eyed woman.

'I told him,' the woman snarled, more to herself than to Benny. 'I told him we should have come armed!'

The captain, indecisive, turned round to glare at her, and Bernice Summerfield found herself looking into a familiar pair of eyes. But she had no time to react, nor even to mouth his name. The Phracton's weapon engaged once, twice, sending shattering bursts into the paving. Chunks of stone fountained and sizzled.

Bernice risked a look over the top of the skimmer The girl called Livewire was standing there. Just standing there. And now she had dropped the crossbow and was putting her hands to her temples.

Where the h.e.l.l was Trinket? Bernice had time for that one thought before the tingling in her mind opened out, like vast torrents of water breaking down the final resistance of a dam.

It cascaded through the channels of all her perceptions.

And there was a scream, like the horrifying cry of a child being wrenched from its mother's womb.

'And Savitri spoke to the G.o.d of death, looking into his blank eyes, and she asked for the soul of her beloved to be spared. Yama could not do this. He told her she should prepare the obsequies and arrange for the burning of her husband's body in the traditional way. He was impressed by her resolve, though, and said instead he would grant her a wish, to lessen her grief.

'Very well, then, she said, and chose her father-in-law's sight to be returned.

Yama told her it was done, and once more turned into the darkness of the forest with her husband's soul. But Savitri followed.'

The Doctor nodded. He had his hand on Nita's warm forehead. He only hoped that his gentle hypnotism would spare her from the absolute terror and pain of what she was soon to know.

98.It tore through Londinium Plaza, carried by Livewire alone. The force of the pain, the shattering anger the coruscating power that was Shanstra, the will of Shanstra, the desire of Shanstra.

It slammed like walls of light into the swooping globes of the Phractons.

Bernice had her hands over her ears and her eyes tightly shut.

Cheynor's call to take cover was drowned in a scream of energy that was part human, part alien, the sound of molecules being forced apart. In a matter of just a few seconds, three of the Phractons' multi-bonded casings split and shattered as if they were no more than barley sugar sweets. Down fell rain of charred casing and circuits. The remains of the three globes dropped and smashed like eggs, two into the fountain, the other on to the square.

The fourth Phracton seemed to have been singled out for special attention.

Its globe wobbled, then dripped like wax from a candle, falling slowly towards the ground. It sizzled, sprouted strange protuberances that branched off from one another like tributaries. Just a second later, there stood what looked like a gla.s.s tree in the centre of the fountain, its twisted, blobby branches made up of deformed bits of Phracton. The creature's stretched body hung suspended in the gla.s.sy trunk of the tree-shape.

The remaining three globes bubbled, deflated. The screams of the bluish creatures inside were choked as they were slowly incinerated by their own temperature regulators, flesh frothing out of the broken sh.e.l.ls. Tentacles were thras.h.i.+ng helplessly, trying to operate circuits that no longer existed.

With her face forced into a rictus of s.a.d.i.s.tic delight, Livewire sank to her knees.

Like an ancient memory, the tale was concluded. Nita's gaze never left the Doctor's. 'Savitri followed Yama into a dark, cold place. And Yama, who was astonished that any mortal should defy him so, offered her another wish to lessen her grief. If that is so, said Savitri, then I choose for my father-in-law's kingdom and wealth to be returned.

'Yama told her that it was done. But still she would not leave him. She followed the G.o.d of death into a place of rank swamps and swirling mists.

Now he was enraged, and told her to leave him at once. Just one more wish, she said. He agreed. She asked to be allowed to have many children and to see them live to a full, old age. The G.o.d of death thought this to be a good wish, and granted it.

'Then Savitri said, ”You must know that, under Hindu law, a widow cannot remarry.”'

'Yama realized that it was so, and that he could not go back on his word he had been tricked by a mortal. And so he released the soul of Satyavan, and told the cunning Savitri it would be a long time before either of them 99 encountered him again. They went back into the world, where they found all of Savitri's wishes granted, and the couple lived a long and happy life.'

'Good,' said the Doctor. 'Sleep.'

Nita's eyelids came down, and her head slumped forward.

'As true as death.' The Doctor shook his head sadly, placed his hat on his head and left the lounge.

Outside in the corridor, there was a crumpled white coat containing a crumpled white junior doctor.

'I'm very sorry,' the medic said. 'I was just coming to find the, er, next of kin?'

The Doctor pointed silently into the lounge.

'Ah. Well. Thank you.' The medic frowned and looked the Doctor up and down. 'Excuse me, sir, but you were the one who came in earlier? With the, er, accident?'

'That's right.'

'You were suffering quite badly from shock, as I recall.' The young man unhooked his stethoscope. 'Are you sure you're fit to be up and about? It was only a few hours ago.'

The Doctor sighed, raised his eyes and tapped his umbrella on the floor.

'Let's see,' he said. He grabbed the end of the stethoscope and pressed it to his chest. The young doctor made a surprised but grudgingly accepting face. This turned to puzzlement when the Doctor moved the stethoscope to the other side and then to astonishment.

'Now, just a minute ' he began indignantly.

'I can't spare one. Time is precious. It has to be rationed.' The Doctor gave him a brief, centuries-old and weary smile. 'Good day.' He strolled down the corridor, swinging his umbrella.

At 18.38, Tilusha Meswani had looked into the contented face of her new-born son, Sanjay.

At 18.40, she had seen the face of the Doctor for the last time. He was standing on the other side of a sheet of gla.s.s, his hands folded on his umbrella, his face showing unfathomable pain, as if he were the guardian of some ancient and secret knowledge. She smiled. Her ordeal was over.

As black clouds descended on the fringes of her vision, she was sure that she saw two small, green eyes glowing in the depths of that new darkness.

At 18.45, the brain of Tilusha Meswani officially ceased to function, and on her home world of Earth, the first stage of the usual bureaucratic process of recording and registering was engaged.

On a wider plane, other ripples spread out from the single event of her death. The next sequence in a huge and ancient battle was initiated. The 100 Doctor knew this, but Tilusha, who had unwittingly been a part of the wider scheme, did not.

And on another plane still, whether her soul went to join the G.o.ds or the spirits was a matter for Tilusha Meswani alone.

101.

13.

Armageddon Days

'It seems, Professor Summerfield, that you and I are destined to run into war at every turn.'